


Housewarming Party

by cherricola



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, THIS IS SO OOC, i craved ze content so i made my own, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23366794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherricola/pseuds/cherricola
Summary: Based on an old writing prompt i saw in august, it went something like "a single mother and her son move into a new house and its haunted but the gpoltergheist just helps raise it" ; you should play zero escape (actually considering youre here you probably already know ze so uhh,,, encourage your friends to play ze?)
Kudos: 3





	1. Housewarming Party

**Author's Note:**

> Pleesee slplesase be neice 2 me this is my first fic and I wrote it in 2 days!

And so, here they were. It’d been a long time coming, but Eric and Mira finally ended the engagement. Who knew that him and his mom’s killer just wouldn’t work out. Also there would be no way they could raise Sean as a normal kid together considering that he was a robot. It was for the best that Eric just lived his life as Mira and Sean lived a secluded and private one.

It wasn’t the dream. In all honesty, it was a shit-shack. The dinky little two bedroom apartment was on the top floor of the complex. Not any better, the recent rain revealed all the little crevices where water dripped through. All of the corners of door frames were scratched up and covered in fur and lint. The wallpaper was torn in areas and the wooden floors were scratched up from the movement of furniture. 

But look on the bright side, it was states and states away from Nevada. And if they hadn’t caught up to her for her past crimes, they sure wouldn’t be now. All of the other inhabitants of the tennant were not present. 

The landlord they had met sure was strict when they were going over the rules. Although frail, he sure could drive in a lesson. 

“Rent is due on the fifteenth! No more, no less than we agreed on! No paying in advance! And no advances on paying! Even the tenants that have been away for months know that rule!”

That last part he didn’t have to add, but cool. She now knew that some of the neighbors aren’t even there half of thetime, perfect. Now they’ll have their quiet lives and most likely wouldn’t have to talk to neighbors. As long as none of her old urges creep up again and neither exposed themselves, they could finally live. 

“Mira,” He peeped in “This place kinda sucks.”

‘It’s better than being homeless. Considering the case, I think this is rather lavish,’ She said in her usual condescending yet good natured tone as she patted the boy’s head. It was so kind of Dr. Klim to give him a head instead of letting him live the rest of his life with a sphere which could potentially be forever given the circumstance.

‘Hey how about this, we just ditch unpacking and we go to a park! Doesn’t that sound fun?’

In all honesty, between the two there wasn’t too much. There were only a couple of boxes full of Sean’s gaulem things like an extra internal battery, a couple sheets of ABT (there have been a couple scrapes and close calls where several sheets had to be used as to not disturb others with his robot insides), and whatever else could be connected to a wire. Anything else Mira carried in several luggages. The house was barren with not even a bed to sleep on so they didn’t have much of choice until they bought things to furnish their new home. 

Sean took a look around the empty home. The last owners sure were thoughtful, taking everything and leaving all the problems when they left. Who knows what else could be wrong with this place that the landlord didn’t disclose; wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t say. This place would be unsellable, but alas this was their best option.

‘Come on, it’ll be fun. I could push you on the swings!’ Her smile faded as she turned her attention back to the travesty that was the apartment. ‘And who knows how long it’ll take for the water to get turned on.’

He weighed his options and opted for some time outside. He dug through Mira’s trunk to get out a parka for himself. Apparently his robotic nerves are not only susceptible to pain, but also to the elements. He looked back at the bare apartment before exiting through the door with Mira following after.

‘C’mon Sean, I saw one right around the bend while we were walking,’ She half jogged to beat him but still giving him a chance to catch up.

The chilly late winter air nipped at his pocket encased fingers. He rubbed his hands together to get some heat from the friction for his poor naked face. Mira didn’t seem to be bothered by the cold despite her wearing the thinnest pair of skinny jeans and a simple wind breaker jacket.

As they followed the L-shaped sidewalk, the frost on the grass just grew thicker. Sean was about to complain that Mira must have remembered wrong until, there it was. The skeleton of what used to be a playground.

It didn’t have many bright colors, or many playground structures at all. There they saw a single solitary silver slide, a couple of balance beams bent to be zig-zag lines, and a pair of swings with one of them broken off leaving only the chain where the seat used to be. It was clear that any child that had ever played there had grown up and abandoned it long ago. More lonesome a feeling when only a couple lampposts didn’t have broken glass covers or burnt out bulbs. 

Mira sighed at the sight of the rundown park. She gave him a push as to guide him towards the playset. At which, Sean hesitantly followed. And so, to the creaky swing set they went.

It wasn’t any help that the freezing cold chains also pinched at the skin of fleshy, child hands. As he sat Mira proceeded to pull him back to start the motions. Back and forth he went like the pendulum of a clock. Living the life of a ten year old, he never did get to live.

“Mira,” White breath broke the silence. “What are you going to do?”

‘Beg your pardon?’ 

“What are you going to do about, you know, a job? It’s not like you can just go back with F.T.S.”

‘Well, have you ever heard of a cam show?’

Sean cringed at that response while she just laughed at him.

‘You know that I’m joking. You shouldn’t even know those things,’ She paused to think. ‘I’m not too sure yet. Ideally, some sort of desk job. I’ve seen some things on the ‘Net about hospital receptionists. It sounds easy enough, type names up, check appointments, something I could do.’

“This better not be a guise for holding hearts,”

‘No, no, of course not. I really thought you would have let go of that by now. All I want now is the quiet life, make some friends, work a job, and the like,’ Her voice shrunk down into a positive with a somber tone. By now she had stopped pushing him.

‘Let’s get going, it’s getting dark.’


	2. The First Day Is Slow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner time! And Mira's having a hard time making friends

The sun was just starting to crack into the golden hour. Gold and orange lights shone through in beams from the fragmented gray clouds looming in the sky.The last of the sun's glowing light will soon disappear into the night’s blinding darkness. The two of them walking hand-in-hand away from the light.

‘What do you wanna eat? We could stop by a restaurant, we don’t really have a fridge so we can’t go down to a grocer.’ 

Sean was only meant to function during the Decision Game and not long term so he wasn’t supposed to live as a normal human boy. Yet another upgrade provided by the brilliant Dr. Klim. Sean now had a ‘stomach’ of sorts. A container that could be emptied after he ‘ate’ something. Although he wasn’t able to perceive feelings of hunger or illness, he had the ability to mimic that of appetite and sickness. Eric specifically requested it after an awkward meal he had with him where all he did was stare while he ate.

“I think I saw a convenient store around the block, what about that?”

They could afford to eat grandly at a restaurant, but Sean was most likely worried about the financial ruin. Mira and Eric usually didn’t let him dabble in expenditures so he was always in the dark. 

‘Well… Who knows how long those hot dogs have been spinning,’ She trailed off and tapped a thumb to her chin in thought. ‘But I do like those pre packed sandwiches. Alright, lead the way.’

The faint glow of the stale store lights shone like a beacon in the night. The lights bounced off the other surrounding buildings and into dissipated dark alleyways. The way the brightness drew you in like water escaping into a column into the unforgiving drain. 

There the two stalked in and out of the many neatly food lined aisles. Nothing gourmet, but will do for the time being. Being ran by a huge company, most, if not all items were the same ones the two of them have seen time and time again from stores all over. This one was a lot bigger than the ones that they were used to though. There was even a copier and an ATM!

Mira browsed the cold food display, things from drinks, to salads, to those prized chicken salad sandwiches that she oh so coveted. She took one of the plastic covered triangle cut sandwiches from the shelf. She pondered whether or not to get this one or another item for sale in the store. 

The shop clerk standing at the corner eyed her. Mira was used to it, it wasn’t out of the usual for other’s eyes to wander towards her. They’d usually turn away once their gazes met but this person didn’t have the same shame. If anything, he was meaning to keep eye contact with her. She grabbed a liter of water and approached the counter. 

Starting over meant that she’d have to build friendly connections with others in her new community, even if it was one of insignificance like this one. She placed her things onto the glass countertop. She attempted to make small talk with the clerk.

‘Slow night?’

“As still as pond water.”

Their interactions ended there except for the necessary ‘Thank Yous’ and awkward stares... That could’ve gone better. 

She called to Sean and off they went. The sun could barely get any rays in through the thick trees. The stale street lights reflected off the still wet asphalt of the paved roads. Just enough light to get them home, but not enough to make them feel at ease. Every now and then one of them looked behind themselves to make sure any threat they felt was all in their own heads. 

A street car raced by them. Thank whatever deity could possibly be out there that let most of the water drain through, but also curse them for letting scum like that who rush through urban streets as if they were running late for a date with a stellar supermodel. The rush of the wind threw Mira’s long brunette locks into her face and into her mouth. After a quick readjustment, they decided to speed up the pace.


	3. Home Sweet Huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing works in this house!

Home sweet home at last! The door swung open as the duo stepped in. The grungy apartment was exactly how they left it; barren and sad. Mira placed her bag to the side of the doorway and walked over to the kitchen sink, heeled boots tapping away each and every step.

“Don’t you think it’s still kinda early?” Sean asked as he slid off his shoes. 

Squeaks came from the handles of the sink with no sign of water flowing through. She sighed at the sight and looked around the room. What could possibly serve as a dinner table? Ah yes, perfect!

‘Hey, go sit in the living room, I’ll fix up the table,’ Mira grabbed the trunk in which carried both of their clothes. 

“But there’s no where to sit-”

‘Of course there is,” she modeled as she sat criss-cross at the makeshift luggage table.

Mira found herself rummaging around in one of the boxes meant for Sean’s spare parts. In her left hand she held an internet router, the key to access of the outside world without physically leaving, and in her left was her trying to plug in any wire end she found. 

“Mira, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

‘I don’t think I’ll sleep, gotta figure out how to get wifi on.” She plugged in whatever would fit into a port on the darn thing and plugged it into a wall. After a couple of seconds the lights that usually flashed on by now were still sitting unlit, the soft rumble wasn’t going on either. 

“The power isn’t gonna be turned on for at least a couple more hours, you did remember that right?” 

‘Well in that case,’ She grunted as she got up, defeated ‘Shouldn’t you, I don’t know, power down or something?”

Before answering a medium sized thud came from the yellow papered wall that he was sitting by causing him to jump. Just as quickly as it came, it disappeared into the echoes of the barren home. 

‘Huh, must’ve been a cat.’

“Look!” The exact thing he was pointing at was the still router, except not exactly. What now stood was the same router, but with blinking lights, emitting a steady rumble; as if it were running for hours. 

‘Woah… hey Sean, when did you start doing that?’

“I didn’t!” He shrilled.

Flip, flip.

“Mira,”

Flip, flip.

“Mira,”

Flip, flip.

“Mira!”

For the last six minutes, she had been walking around to each and every room, flipping light switches on and off and testing each and every outlet with a phone charger; Sean followed close behind. Although he too was bewildered by this phenomenon. 

‘Weren’t you just telling me about how it’d be “At least a few hours”? And then it just started working right as we were talking about it? It just doesn’t make any sense,’ she shook her head.

‘Maybe it isn’t such a big deal. What am I going to do? Call the landlord and complain that the power came on early? Oh, let’s try the piping and gas’ she then was headed back into the kitchen.

Again, she tried the faucet. This time, water flushed through down into the drain. Next she tried the stove. Click, click click, fwoosh! The burners were on. Everything that was meant to take hours was now there at an instant. On the bright side, the sun was already gone so they had light just in time. 

With the mystery of whether or not anything was going to work solved, she gave out a sigh and finally settled.

’Hey bud, let’s get you ready to sleep.’

It was the middle of the night now, each of them changed into house clothes, Sean all cleaned up, plugged in, and slumped against a wall as he ‘slept’, while Mira was tapping away at a laptop using bunched up clothes to make the experience just a bit nicer. 

The blinding white light reflecting off of her face stung her eyes. Being up all night on this thing is definitely going to take a toll on her; but that's for her future self to deal with. Her plans for the day was to first get some nice (preferably cheap) furniture, utilities, and of course look for some form of work. She combed through sites and local newspapers. Everytime she found something that looked promising, there was always some major wall that got in the way, (far away, some sort of specific credentials, or the dreaded background check) it wasn’t looking good.

Every now and then, she’d look back at Sean. It’d been a little over three years since that fateful day, the Decision Game as Delta called it. How did it come to this? Why did they take him in? Why did he decide to go with her rather than Eric? What’ll he do without her? Some middle of the night thoughts crept into her mind. 

Maybe it was because it was so late and she was so tired, maybe it was because she was in some new environment so suddenly, maybe she was just losing a couple of screws; but when she looked back at Sean this time, she could’ve sworn something was currently brushing through his hair. That ‘something’ being a hand. A smooth and almost see through hand gently caressing his locks. Ok, now it was definitely time for bed.


	4. Unexpected Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ooooo spooky ghosts! Jk; they're nice

“I’m not sure… What about this one?” A soft feminine voice in the distance whispered, accompanied by the flutter of paper being flipped through.

“You couldn’t be serious” Replied a high pitched but far away voice.

“No, no, she does have a point” Chimed in an old, scraggy, male voice that was very close with the sound of paper being ripped.

The sun was lightly shining through the blinds of the window. But there was just the perfect amount of light to shine right into Mira’s face. Her face scrunched a little as she slowly woke up. Her back ached (more than usual) as she got up and uncovered herself from her makeshift jacket blanket. A quick trip to the bathroom and then she went to wake up Sean. 

‘Hey, get up. It’s time for school,’ she joked as she gently shook his shoulder.

His eyes fluttered open and his eyes met hers. “Morning,” he chimed as he started to unplug himself. 

In the middle of taking a cord out of his outer thigh, he eyed Mira who was at this moment looking at her laptop again. Well, not exactly her laptop. Her eyes weren’t focused on the bright screen and her hands weren’t mashing at the keys. But instead, her laptop was folded slightly less than its usual ninety degrees and she was instead looking at what looks to be a newspaper cut out with that texture paper gets when it dries after getting damp.

“What you’ve got there?”

‘A job ad. Must’ve found it last night and totally forgotten that I picked it up,’ She flipped it over ‘Librarian’s assistant, barely any requirements, a little far but walkable, good salary,’ her voice lightened at the last part in surprise.   
‘Good job me,’

She handed the ad over to him. 

“Are you going to apply?”

‘Of course I am, this is our best bet when you consider our situation. We’ll stop by while we’re out today. Maybe we can get you a library card while we’re there, you like books don’t you?’ She winked ‘So today’s agenda starts with furnishing this place. Wanna get one of those funky bunk beds where the bottom is a desk? I’m pretty sure those places deliver. After that, we’ll drop by the library and we’ll see where that takes us.”

“Do you even have a resume?”

‘I’m sure I have an old draft somewhere,’

He shrugged, “Alright, when are we leaving?”

After a day on the streets and visiting tons of shops, they were finally back home. Sean kicking off his shoes with an armful of books, was full of concentrated excitement; Mira shutting the door, a wave of relief flowing over her from the things they had gotten done. All that’s left to do is wait for their furniture and an email back from the library. 

That relief was then turned to shock as the sound of about half a dozen novels and magazines hit the hardwood floors. 

‘What’re you-’

Mira too found herself frozen in place like Sean. In front of the duo were what looked to be a fluffy, stray cat in their apartment, bathing in a pocket of sun that shone through blinds that had obviously been moved. The cat, being unbothered by the two.

Mira snuck up on the thing, looked back at Sean, and went back. Her plan was to scruff the thing and throw it out the front door. 

Just as she was about to strike, the doorbell rang. With the surprise ring, she wasn’t as graceful as she’d wanted. Instead, her hand went right to the floor. But wait, it’s in the cat?! It was as if the flesh of the cat opened up a hole in it’s flesh in a perfect circle to avoid contact, resulting in a new cat bracelet.

Sweat starting to bead on her forehead as she was still crouched over the thing as she heard the door open. Who could it possibly have been that was disturbing them anyway? The delivery guys wouldn’t be coming for at least an hour anyway, could it have been neighbors? News couldn’t have been spread that fast. 

“Uhm, we’re a little busy”

“We’re looking for our cat, we think he’s here” Came a female voice

“Is it a scruffy one?” He looked back to where Mira was, at this point she pulled her arm out. “There’s a scruffy one here”

“That’s got to be him” Another voice, this one scraggy and masculine.

The door opened and the cat lifted his heads, confirmed who it was, and then rolled over so that it’s other side could get a taste of the warm sunshine. 

“Calveros!” The girl exclaimed as she scooped up the cat in her arms.

“Thanks for finding our cat, well, kinda finding our cat”

The girl was farther on the edge of adulthood than adolescence, a ravenette with a red apron dress and, are those tire marks? The man had a crook in his back but was still considerably tall, although he was covered in dirt, no dust or anything dropped when he walked.

“Welcome to the neighborhood by the way,” She cradled the cat as she faced Mira who was still on the floor. 

On the two neighbors’ instance, now the apartment had a dining table all four (with the cat on the girls lap) were now sitting at a nice wooden table, all staring at each other with a thick atmosphere hanging in the air.

Mira broke the silence.

‘It was nice of you to come down and uh, hang around after, but we’re kind of waiting for our furniture to-’

“Oh how rude of us! We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet! I’m Dessie and this is my partner Marian, and our cat Calveros. We stopped by yesterday but you two were so tired I didn’t want to bother you.”

This was the part they really wanted to avoid. It’s a no-brainer that it’s hard to explain that one day she and her ex fiancé went to a Mars mission test site and came out with the ability to SHIFT and a gaulem that was based on a ten year old that died a decade ago. 

‘Well, I’m Mira and this is, Sean my uh… son,’ Again, that awkward haze hung above.

“Say Dessie, I don’t mean to sound rude but… Are those tire tracks on your face?” Sean asked abruptly.

“That completely slipped my mind” Marian reacted, tossing his hair in one hand.   
“We’re technically ghosts.” He said in a little too much comfort.

Both the droid and the living’s eyes widened. Did they hear that right?

‘Ghosts? Like, dead?’ 

The two nodded 

‘Even the cat?’

Again, the two sitting across from them nodded.

‘Since when? And for how long? How does this even work?’

“Since they died, forever probably, and no one knows” This time, the voice was higher and didn’t come from either of them. But rather, the cat Calveros.

Before either of them could get any questions in, the doorbell rang again, looks like the furniture’s in.

“We’d love to chat more, but it looks like you have company. You can drop by anytime, we’re right downstairs from you!” 

And with that Dessie with Calveros in her arms and Marian walked through the floor, as if on some sort of invisible stairway. 

“They seem…”

‘Interesting.’


	5. These guys are hauntingly kooky!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TBH not v satisfactory an ending; but its sweet!

What are you supposed to do in this situation? Knock on the door? Walk right in? Turn back and pretend you didn’t see anything? They were expecting them weren’t they? Yesterday the girl said they could ‘drop by anytime’ so it should be ok. 

Before either of them could linger on these thoughts longer, the door opened with a Calveros wrapped around the wooden door frame. A little odd but the whole situation even worse.

They sat on vintage looking velvet sofas across from the ghost couple. 

“I’d love to offer you tea or something but we don’t exactly eat.” Explained the man called Marian.

“I saw that you took the job that we chose, and we really hope you get it!”

‘Wait, that was you?”

“Oh yes, I did tell you we paid a visit the other day didn’t I? How are you finding the apartments? Is your little Sean in school yet?”

‘That was the middle of the night though…” She trailed off in thought ‘Y’know, moving in, a fresh start. Oh and Sean isn’t going to school we uh, homeschool’

“Is that so? Well I imagine it’d be hard to do since you’re going to work. I am so sorry, I didn’t know before picking that job out… I feel so bad for pushing something like that, I must be causing you such a bad headache.”

‘No, no, you were just acting in good spirits- whoops did I say that? Sorry’

“We could daycare for you while you’re out at work!”

‘No, you really don’t need to-”

“It wouldn’t bother us, we don’t exactly have things to do anyways,”

“You’ve already done so much for us it’s ok-”

This back and forth was going nowhere. Everytime one of them tried to excuse them from their overly friendly neighbors’ services, they’d just counter them. Time for Mira’s trademarked bluntness.

‘Listen Dessie, Marian, you seem like nice folks but there really is a reason why I don’t want you guys to watch him. He isn’t human, one of those fancy Gaulem things.’

“Mira!” Sean spat in a slight embarrassed tone.

The two looked astonished, caught off guard. They two exchanged glances and then went back to their cheerful tones.

“Was that all you’re worried about? Oh I feel so silly!”

“That explains some things, ghosts can’t touch living people normally,”

For the rest of the afternoon, conversation continued like that. They did end up coming to a compromise of yes, they would watch Sean while Mira was out. They discussed about each other and about themselves before meeting just like any other person would (excluding of course Mira’s old tendencies). 

It was evident that this new life they’ve won themselves really was a fresh new start for them. The neighbors were annoying at times, but overall they added to the pleasantries of everyday experiences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thamk u 4 reading i had a blast writubfgg!


End file.
